A Study of Students and Professors’ Needs in a PhD program of Applied Linguistics

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the needs of students and professors towards the doctor of Philosophy program in applied linguistics. The participants of this study were 8 university students who are the current students in the PhD program of Applied Linguistics at a government university and 6 professors whose expertise are in the fields of Applied Linguistics, English language teaching, technology-based language teaching, and innovative education. The research tool was a set of open-ended questions relating to the teaching and learning of the PhD program in Applied Linguistics for the focus group interview. Data were analyzed by means of content analysis. The result revealed that students were satisfied with the program. They expect to be the qualified PhD students and be a good scholar and independent researcher who distribute and apply the knowledge to be beneficial for mankind in their work fields after graduation relating to the philosophy of program, faculty, and university. Moreover, students gave some suggestions for the program which benefits for whom are in charge of the program to develop the program responded to students’ needs and wants.